5 Things That Don't Make Sense About Princess Leia

This week, I was asked to pen an article about ten things that don't make sense about Princess Leia, which I have found to be an exceedingly difficult task, especially when I am really only familiar with her role in eight of the Star Wars films and some of Legends materials. However, it looks like I am only getting halfway there. It is entirely possible that, since I haven't read a lot of the comics or Canon books, including novelizations, there may be answers to some of my questions there, so please just bear with me. Also, there will be spoilers for several movies. So here is my list, in no particular order, of five things that don't make sense about our favorite "Space Mom," Princess Leia.

5. Leia's Memory Of Her Mother

This is the biggest question I've had ever since I first watched Star Wars: Episode III - Revenge of the Sith, which features the birth of Luke and Leia. In a heartfelt moment between Luke and Leia in Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi, Leia recounts some memories she has of her mother (Padme), specifically that she was very beautiful but sad. Luke responds by telling Leia that he has no memories of her. Based on the events of Revenge of the Sith, Padme gives birth to Luke and Leia and then promptly passes away, which appears to contradict what Leia recalls. Over the years, there have been some explanations offered for this apparent contradiction, such as that Leia had a connection to her mother through the Force, even as newborn, but that doesn't seem to account for Luke's failure to recount any memories of her as well.

There has also been the suggestion that Leia was remembering her adoptive mother, Breha Organa, instead of Padme. However, Breha dies when Alderaan is destroyed, not when Leia is young. As much as I enjoyed Revenge of the Sith and consider it one of my favorite Star Wars movies, this is one thing that just failed to connect well with the original trilogy.

4. Leia's Rank/Role In The Rebel Alliance

Throughout the original trilogy, what we know of Leia is that she occupies many roles, including Princess of Alderaan, by virtue of being the adoptive daughter of Senator Bail Organa and his wife, Breha, of the Royal House of Alderaan. She also serves as an Imperial Senator, at least until it is dissolved by Emperor Palpatine in Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope. We also see her acting as a leader of sorts within the Rebel Alliance, even though she does not appear to hold a specific role or rank. In Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back, she is seen making command-level decisions regarding the operations of Echo Base on Hoth and during the subsequent evacuation of the base, but "Princess" is the only title that I remember being given.

By contrast, Han, Luke, and Lando are given military rank and titles. By the time of Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens and through the remainder of the sequel trilogy, Leia has an actual military rank of general within the Resistance.

3. Leia's Force Abilities

By the end of the original trilogy, it is revealed that Luke and Leia are not only brother and sister, but that Leia is also Force-sensitive and capable of using the Force, although, of course, we do not see her train as Jedi like Luke does. Some previous events, such as her resistance to Darth Vader's mind probe on the Death Star, and her sensing Luke's call for help on Bespin, have been retconned as demonstrations of Leia's latent Force abilities.

Her ability to use the Force begins to be seriously explored in The Force Awakens, where she appears to sense Han's death at their son's hand. In The Last Jedi, she unexpectedly uses the Force to pull herself back to the Resistance cruiser after the bridge is destroyed by a First Order attack and she and others are sucked out into the vacuum of space. By The Rise of Skywalker, she is seen training Rey, who refers to her as "Master." Also, in her final scene alive, she uses the Force, much like Luke did in the previous film, to project a vision of Han across the galaxy to their son, Ben Solo, which helps him to return to the light. At the end of the film, her body disappears along with Ben's, and she is seen as a Force ghost alongside Luke at the conclusion of the movie.

It is established by Luke in that Luke trained Leia in the use of the Force and even some lightsaber combat sometime between the original trilogy and sequel trilogy. Luke states to Rey that Leia ultimately decided to stop pursuing her Jedi studies due to a worrisome vision that she had while training. It is not yet established to my knowledge how long Luke trained her and if she ever picked her studies back up after she quit. However, her becoming a teacher to Rey and some of her acts throughout the sequel trilogy suggest that she achieved a considerable mastery of the Force by the time that she passes away, although it's unclear exactly how.

2. Leia's Death

Although it is unclear from what I know whether or not the writers of the sequel trilogy intended for Leia to pass away during the sequel trilogy, actress Carrie Fisher's tragic passing in 2016, unfortunately, made it a necessary plot point for The Rise of Skywalker, and there was considerable debate about how to best handle Fisher's passing in the movie, since she's still alive by the end of the previous film. Director J.J. Abrams ultimately chose to finish up Leia's story using some previously shot footage, CGI, and stand-ins to finish her story arc, which ends with Leia making one last-ditch attempt to reach out to her son, Ben Solo (aka Kylo Ren), to bring him back to the light side. Her attempt, which comes in the form of an image of Han Solo appearing to Ben, is ultimately successful. However, Leia dies shortly thereafter.

It is not made explicitly clear, at least in the film, what the actual cause of her death is, however. Based on Luke's death in The Last Jedi, I think we can surmise that her use of the Force to reach out across the galaxy to Ben is the most likely explanation, although not an entirely satisfying one in my opinion. However, it would seem that the writers have basically developed a rule that using such incredible Force powers comes with a high price tag. While Luke and Leia are not as young as they were in the original trilogy, by my math, they were both no more than 53-54 years old by the conclusion of the sequel trilogy, which is, in our own world, only considered "middle-age." There was also no evidence of any specific medical conditions that might have made it more likely for Leia to die (or Luke for that matter).

If you want to really pick at it, I suppose that she might have sustained some serious long-term injuries from being briefly sucked out into space in The Last Jedi. However, the lack of any clear explanation in the movie is kind of frustrating, even though we all know the real-world explanation for having to write her out somehow.

1. Leia's Appearance At The Ewok Village

This is probably the most minor and "nitpicky" thing that I could think of that doesn't make sense. While it involves Leia, it's ultimately not really about her, but since I can't think of anything else offhand, I'll just go with it. This point refers to her appearance, specifically her hairdo and outfit, when Han, Luke, Chewie, and the rest of the gang find her in the Ewok village, shortly after she is separated from the group and befriends the Ewoks. When the Rebels first arrive on Endor, Leia is wearing the same outfit and gear as the rest of the Rebel strike team. However, when she is later discovered at the Ewok village, she is wearing a dress and has her hair completely redone.

What we don't know and what is never explained is, where did the Ewoks come up with a dress for Leia to wear and who did her hair? Why did Leia even change her appearance for that scene anyway? Did the Ewoks make her a dress and do her hair? Did Leia quickly stitch something together to be comfortable in while hanging out there? Did she just do her own hair? Did the Ewoks just happen to have human clothing in their possession for some reason? Based on the Ewok movies that were released in the mid-1980's, we know that the Ewoks had other encounters with humans. However, those movies are not considered canon.

Are there any other things about Princess Leia that don't make sense? Are there any answers to any of these questions that I may not be aware of? Please feel free to leave a comment.

Written By Mara Butler

Syndicated From Culture Slate

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